Name: Richard Bennett
Was: Retail director at Spar
Now: Chief operating officer at Ryman

Career background: Bennett started his career at Marks & Spencer as a trainee manager for its store in Windsor, Berkshire and stayed at the retailer for 18 years. Following store manager roles, he spent two years as country manager for Greece and the Greek islands. He moved on to area manager for Central London Neighbourhood stores and then area manager for central London Simply Food. In 2005, he joined Spar as retail director until leaving last summer.

What is he doing now? After leaving Spar, Bennett joined holiday park operator Bourne Leisure as director of Haven Caravan Parks. However, he left less than a year later to become COO for stationery chain Ryman. In his new role, he leads the retailer’s buying, marketing, store operations, logistics and e-commerce functions.

Biggest achievements in grocery: As area manager for Central London Simply Food stores at M&S, Bennett was responsible for the rollout of the brand within London, opening and operating 12 stores within a year. At Spar, he was a crucial player in the development of the chain’s Stores of The Future programme. When he left Spar, the then MD Jerry Marwood said: “Richard has put in six years of hard work that have changed the shape of many of our retail operations, most notably in the area of national accounts.”

What does the future hold? Ryman, which is owned by Dragons’ Den investor Theo Paphitis, reported a 2.3% increase in sales to £126.2m and a 14.1% increase in profits to £7.2m in the year to 2 April 2011, boosted by its e-commerce arm. Paphitis also acquired electrical and hardware retailer Robert Dyas in July this year, so there’s plenty of options for Bennett, both within Ryman and the wider group.

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